News

28 Aug 2018

Are we Mentally Healthy?

Never Not Creative, UnLtd and Everymind have partnered to conduct the first major study into the mental health and wellbeing of the media, marketing and creative industry in Australia. The purpose of this research is to bring transparency to the mental health issues affecting individuals in our industry.

The study specifically looks at two core areas – the mental health and wellbeing of individuals working in our industry, and their attitudes towards mental health.

Andy Wright, Founder of Never Not Creative, a community supporting the wellbeing of people in the creative industry said: “Whilst the stories of burn-out and stress are commonly heard in our industry and we all intuitively know that the issue is widespread, so far there has been no concrete statistics to quantify the problem. This study will bring robust data backed by credible and proven methodologies to start us on the path to identifying solutions.”

Chris Freel, CEO of UnLtd, said that he is excited about the project and recognises its importance for people involved in the industry:

“Through working with our charity partners such as batyr, we know what a critical issue mental ill-health is. We know one in five Australians experience a mental illness every year but over half of those will not seek help.Sadly, suicide is still the biggest killer of young Australians aged 15-44. We also know from conversations with our corporate partners, that mental health is a topic that people in our industry can relate to and something that affects people across all levels.”

The survey will:

Determine the prevalence of mental ill-health in the media, marketing and creative industry and explore any differences that exist between media, marketing, creative, client-side and agency side audiences; as well as comparisons with the population in general

Establish factors associated with mental ill-health in those who work in the media, marketing and creative industry, including the identification of any associated modifiable workplace characteristics

Understand the current levels of stigma associated with discussing mental health.

The collaboration is an adaptation of research that Everymind, a leading national Institute dedicated to reducing mental ill-health and suicide, has been conducting into small businesses across the country. The study has been adapted to the media, marketing and creative industry in order create a comparison between the two data sets and analyse differences and similarities between the mental health of the industry, and the population and businesses in general.

Dr Ross Tynan, Mental Health Research Lead at Everymind commented:

“We are excited to better understand the mental health of the media, marketing and creative industry and how that compares to the general public and business sector. All of our research focuses on contributing to the evidence base for the prevention of mental ill-health, the prevention of suicide and the promotion of overall mental health and wellbeing. The results will be used to guide our work, and the work of others in establishing programs to improve the mental health in the workplace.”

The survey has been launched this week and will be in field during August and September with results reported by the end of the year.

Everyone working in media, marketing and creative industry is encouraged to complete the survey here as we take the first step in benchmarking and improving mental health and wellbeing in our industry.